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In both London and Paris, lived two families.
The Graham de Vanily family were mostly living in England. It was mostly due to the fact that they were from a long legacy of movie makers that were well known in the movie industry, with their main headquarters in London. However, the number of members in that family shrunken down with each generation. Some lost themselves or their own life due to the harsh existence people needed to endure when being in the show business. Others were too focused on their own work, that they didn't think they had enough time and effort to have children.
Either way, the Graham de Vanily legacy was in the hands of twin women, named Amelie and Emilie of Graham de Vanily. The first one married at a young age, and after a long time trying, finally was able to be pregnant, and got one boy. To give him luck in his life ahead of him, they called him Felix .
The other one, Emilie, married a man called Gabriel Agreste. The Agreste legacy was new, Gabriel creating a fashion empire in only a decade with the help of his apprenticeship with the famous Audrey Bourgeois, a critique d’haute couture in New York. Even if the family name wasn't as renowned and old enough due to decades of work as famous celebrities like the Graham de Vanily one, the Agreste would soon enough be well known in all of France. Not long after Felix' birth, came Adrien, Emilie's son. And with him, she wished to continue to follow Agreste's legacy, not her maiden one.
That was how Felix became the sole future heir of the Graham de Vanily Film industry, while Adrien became a model for the Gabriel fashion brand. The two families might be separated from the sea, but it didn't stop the boys' mothers from seeing each other. They organized playdates for their children when they visited their twin, in hope that their children would be friends.
Seeing as they looked similar to each other, the cousins were often compared by the media. Felix always had grown spurts before Adrien, the young boy more calm and obedient than Felix for the rare occasions the Agrestes allowed their son to be out of the mansion. Nevertheless, the women knew how to handle the situation, since they needed to endure the comparisons with their twin all their lives. They knew how to twist things around so that it didn't turn into a competition between the cousins. Or making them doubt themselves, because of some low-esteem due to the constant reminder of how someone else they were related to lived their life.
As for the two young boys themselves, when they were mere toddlers, they found a way to use their physical similarities for their gain.
With pretending to be each other.
“Young Master Felix! Please come back here!” a maid exclaimed in worry, while a young blond boy giggled, rushing out of a room only to hide in another.
Adrien, disguised as Felix, always loved the freedom their game allowed him to feel. This time around, he was able to snatch some pastry from the kitchen, eating it there quickly before someone noticed him standing there. As Felix, he didn’t have to be sure to be the perfect sunshine child, nor did he have to be on that strict diet. Felix was already known by the staff at the Graham de Vanily mansion to be a trickster, which helped him not feel that guilty to do something like stealing some food from the kitchen.
Felix on the other hand, liked to pretend to be Adrien just for the fun of a new point of view. And to check how long it would take for his cousin’s parents to notice. Most of the time his aunt, no matter how hard he tried, could know right away.
“A mother always knows best.” Emilie had explained one day with a smile, when Felix had, yet again, failed to trick her.
Gabriel, for the most part, knew as well. But with how his work and wife were more of his main focus, he didn’t seem to even try to be seen in the same room as the two blond children. However, the moment his uncle put his notebook or tablet down to take a small break from working while Felix and Adrien were pretending to be each other, his answer was always the same.
“Stop this at once, you two.” He would say with a frown.
For some reason, it always made Felix want to do it more. To make his uncle irritated, he didn’t care for his cousin until he did something that he thought was wrong. In time like those, Adrien would only mutter an apology before they both go back to one of their bedrooms to change back into their normal clothes.
Nevertheless, they still continued to play that game. To let Adrien be free, even for a few hours. To let Felix check how long it would take for others to realize that they were tricking them. Every time when their game would be over, they would share the last pieces of the snack Adrien took, laughing together as they talked about their new adventure in each other’s role.
As the game continued, their bond grew strong. They might not see each other as much as their mothers wanted them to, but every minute counted when they could. Each other’s best friends for years, their only friend even before they were introduced to Chloé Bourgeois, they were like twins separated at birth, finally coming back together.
When they had difficulties with something, they would call each other with their home phone, as their parents didn’t want them to be clues to smartphone’s screens at a young age.
The moment they met again, Adrien would hug Felix tightly, babbling about what had happened since the last time they met. His cousin would always be uneasy due to the physical contact, but still reciprocate the action. It was Adrien after all, and Felix knew that it was his way to show his affection.
They were inseparable when the sea didn’t detach them from each other.
Then, suddenly, the first calamity divided them. It all started with one of their usual phone calls, that, as soon as Felix picked it up, knew wouldn’t be as normal as before.
“She-She’s gone!” Adrien cried, his voice so broken yet strong that it felt as if he was standing next to Felix, not inside that cold mansion kilometers away. “I don’t know what happened but…! Mom’s not here anymore!”
Similarly to everything they did before, Felix followed Adrien, and vice versa. Emotions flooded him like waves that he couldn’t fight against. And like Adrien over the phone, Felix crumbled at the news.
“F-Father told me that she left. He… He said that I shouldn’t believe people when they start to say bad things about her leaving us without saying anything.” Adrien confessed after some time crying, his voice rough. “I’m… Scared Felix. I… I don’t know what to do. Or think. Why… Did she leave without saying goodbye?”
In the corner of his eyes, Felix could see his mother immobile at the entrance of the room. Her hands were hiding her mouth as well as half of her face, but the shock, and fear shining in her eyes was enough for her son to understand that she heard it all.
“I thought…” Adrien continued in the silence that now reigned in the London house. “Didn’t she love me?”
“Of course she did.” Felix whispered back. He might not be the best for this type of conversation, but he knew he needed to do it for his cousin’s sake. “There must be a reason for her to leave.”
Focused as he was on his own phone call, Felix didn’t notice that his mother’s phone rang as well. Frowning, Amelie answered when she realized that it was Gabriel Agreste calling her. It didn’t take her long to understand that like Adrien, his father wanted to give a warning to Graham de Vanity about Emilie’s whereabouts, before it was the press that gave them the news. Looking one last time at her son, Amelie left the room silently, accepting the call.
“What can I do now?” Adrien asked again.
“You would need to be strong, Adrien.” his cousin answered. “Your father is right, no matter what, do not believe whatever others would say about Auntie leaving.”
“I… I don’t want to be alone.”
“Then I’ll be there.”
After a few more minutes reassuring the lost child, Felix hung up, promising yet again to be there for him. It seemed that Amelie had the same intentions, as she announced that they would visit Paris a week after that fateful call. They both wanted to be at the Agreste family’s side as soon as possible. But with how the news was still fresh, they didn’t want to add fuel to the fire by coming too early. The wound was still fresh, and they knew that journalists would be standing in front of the Agreste mansion's gate to seek answers for at least a few days. Gabriel agreed easily, claiming that he didn’t have the strength to welcome guests either.
To compensate for the fact that he couldn’t be physically there for Adrien, Felix called him more often. It didn’t matter if they were talking or not, both content to know that they were there for each other.
The moment it was safe enough to come to France, Amelie and her son left London. Some time had passed since the phone calls, and they had time to digest the news. Emilie had somehow disappeared, never to be seen again. Gabriel on the other hand, had made sure to hide everything, never to be talked about again.
It didn’t matter to them what others speculated about her, as they were ready to grieve in silence with the Agrestes.
A man, secluded in his work studio, to work without caring about anything else. A lonely boy, trying to hide his eternal sorrow behind a smile and a public persona. Both stuck in different ways, the older one in the path, the younger in his sadness. Both welcomed their guests in different manners as well. The first with a cold shoulder, not even bothering to talk. The other clutching to them as if he would fall apart even more without them.
“I am here.” were the first words Felix proclaimed as he arrived at the mansion, welcoming Adrien in his arms. It had seemed that he had grown even more since the last time they had seen each other. Felix didn’t know if it was the recent events that did it or a new growth spurt, but Adrien looked older than he should be. “Just like I promised.”
Amelie and Felix had stayed for a month in Paris. In their own ways, they tried to make sure that Emilie’s disappearance didn’t do too much damage. Yet, they knew that some things couldn’t heal in only a month.
Nevertheless, they still needed to come back to London, as their business couldn’t run internally without them around. Gabriel, even after weeks of trying to make it feel better, didn’t seem to budge. Adrien, on the other hand, needed to know how to build himself back with the help of his remaining family, before learning how to handle it all by himself. Felix didn’t like to see him that way, but they both had their own lives, separated by the sea and their mutual duties.
He was proud, however, that his cousin was now able to start a new day, without seeking physical touch the moment he was awake. It was for the best, as Gabriel never had been the type to give physical comfort, and with Amelie and Felix coming back to London, he needed to seek comfort another way.
“Don’t forget to call me if needed, Adrien.” Felix announced, while a maid put his and his mother’s luggages in a car in the background. “I’ll answer your call. And if I don’t, I’ll let you know why I was busy at that time.”
“It sounds like a farewell.” Adrien laughed, even if mirth didn’t shine in his eyes.
“Of course not. We’re just a few hours away from each other. And even less time if you use your phone.”
“...True.”
Amelie called Felix, declaring that they were leaving. The young boy turned one more time to look at his cousin. Like always, he accepted to be hugged, even if the physical contact only helped Adrien to calm down.
“Don’t be a stranger and contact us if you need to.” Felix reminded him once more. “You’re family, don’t forget that.”
“I won’t.”
Amelie also gave her goodbye to Adrien. Gabriel had stayed inside, but from the sight of the shadow near one of the windows in the studio, he was making sure, somehow, that they left safe and sound.
With that, the two Graham de Vanily heirs left, hoping for the best. Because in both London and Paris, lived two families. Still, with the blood relation that were linking them, they were one family, trying to fight back against what the world prepared for them. Together.